The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Stake Lowered by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,877 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AES were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,353,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,787,000 after buying an additional 164,606 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AES by 18.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,066,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,734,000 after acquiring an additional 168,348 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in AES by 16.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,132,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,084,000 after acquiring an additional 444,252 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 175,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AES by 284.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 76,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 56,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Stock Performance

NYSE:AES opened at $11.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.99 and its 200-day moving average is $15.92. The AES Co. has a 52-week low of $11.57 and a 52-week high of $22.21. The company has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.00.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.94%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AES shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.30.

AES Company Profile

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market.